Scenes and Songs

Delaney is in 7th grade and lives in North Berwick, Maine with her parents, sisters, and puppy – Rooster! She is extremely grateful and proud to be a part of Children of the Grim. Her past favorite roles include: Peter Pan at Hackmatack Playhouse, Belinda/ensemble in A Christmas Carol (twice) at the Rochester Opera House, Amanda Thripp in Matilda at ROH, Santa’s Elf in Elf The Musical with Ogunquit Playhouse, and Alice in Alice in Wonderland at Hackmatack. Off stage Delaney enjoys being part of theater and music excel, making memories with family and friends, and being part of the middle school soccer, volleyball, and track teams. She would like to thank her parents and sisters for being her biggest fans, her family and friends for their support, Billy and Bitter Pill for this amazing and creative opportunity, and the cast for the wonderfully weird and fun memories and hard work. Goodnight and don’t let the bed bugs bite…

Delsin Wormstead is excited to join The Bitter Pill in this unique theatrical experience. He is a scare actor with Haunted Overload and studies acting with Actors Career Studios. Delsin has taken the stage as JoJo in Seussical at Prescott Park, as well as Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol at the Rochester Opera House. He has also enjoyed performing in over a dozen youth productions at Garrison Players and Dover Middle School, including Fame, Crazy for You, Bye Bye Birdie, Guys and Dolls, Once on this Island, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Shrek. He is a sophomore at Dover High, where he is in the Business Program and sings with Dover High Concert Choir and Soundwaves. Delsin loves animals, exploring nature, and traveling.

Fury is beyond delighted to be a part of this fantastically strange and whimsically dark production. This little band of eclectics and its intrepid ringleader have been such a joy to work and laugh with, and Fury hopes that the spooky results will be stuck in yer head for weeks. Fury played Jonathan Harker in Dracula over at The Strand and Judas in Dive In Production’s run of Jesus Christ Superstar here at the Ring. And now Fury gets to be a boatload of different other things just in this one show, and play some instruments to boot! What a good day.

Haley DeValliere is psyched to be doing another show with Bitter Pill, after playing Penny Diver in the Bitter Pill-produced The Brechtones in 2018. There’s something about doing a show with so many familiar faces that’s made this one so particularly fun from the start. Haley was most recently seen on the Players’ Ring stage in Jesus Christ Superstar. Other Ring credits include: Pippin (Catherine), Paintbox (Queen of the Freaks/ensemble), Doubt (Sister James), and Jason, Jason, and Florence (Kate). When not performing, Haley can be found at the Ogunquit Playhouse, working with the Arts Academy or child wrangling for certain mainstage shows. Many thanks to Billy for including me in another of his shows; to Mom, Dad, and Rob for their support and for running lines with me; to my family for coming to my shows; and to Fury for keeping me sane while working on two shows together at the same time.

Other than being a full-time guitar playing member of Bitter Pill, Tomer is also a theatre artist, active in the greater Seacoast area. Tomer would like to thank everybody for coming to see and support Children of the Grim! Some recent credits include; Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (St Anselm Players), Ethan in The Full Monty (ROH), Feste and Sebastian in Twelfth Night (Advice to the Players), Sergei in We Are Pussy Riot (3S Artspace), Smee in Peter and the Starcatcher (Hackmatack Playhouse), and Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet (theatre.unmasked). In addition, Tomer also directed the premiere of (Bitter-Pill band member) Jon McCormack’s original funk and rock-opera Paintbox in 2019.

Billy Butler has been a music and theatre maker between NH and NYC for more than three decades. In 2019, he appeared as Cratchit/Marley in the world premiere of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol at the Colonial Theatre in Boston and as Billy in ONCE the Musical at Speakeasy Stage. Off-Broadway: Crazy Head Space (Abraxas Stage), Stepchild (Interborough Rep) and as Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS). Other NYC credits: New York Musical Theatre Festival, Joe’s Pub, iStar Theatre Lab, 54 Below, the Liberty Theatre on 42nd street, and busking on the streets of Manhattan. He was the 2018/19 Artist-in-Residence for the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra. In the spring of 2020, he released a second album with his band, Bitter Pill. He wrote the book, music, and lyrics for Gay Bride of Frankenstein, Missing: Wynter, The Brechtones, Titus Andronicus Musicus all of which premiered here at The Players’ Ring. He wrote the music and lyrics for Cynthia von Buhler’s, Ziegfeld’s Midnight Frolic, and scored his first film, Passage of Time, in 2020. As a musician he has released six solo records and has appeared on dozens of studio recordings. Currently, he is touring with his band, Bitter Pill, who Just finished recording their third studio album to be released in July, 2022. Billy is also the recipient of the Excellence in American Theatre Award by the New England Theatre Council.

(Comic Artist) For the past 20 years Katie Drew has been creating art for Graphic Novels, Newspapers, Book Covers and Theatrical Productions on the New Hampshire Seacoast. She started with the Comic Book anthology series Severed Head Presents, and created several ongoing stories including Sarge and the Terrible Ten and Dig Up Her Bones. Her work on the Gay Bride of Frankenstein Rock Opera, and the comic book adaptation, is one of her most rewarding experiences as an artist. She will be releasing new work soon under Drogo Press, continuing Dig Up Her Bones and Sarge, and creating a new Series, Ava Axiom: Fugitive of Polaris 9. Her work can also be seen weekly in the Boston based periodical, the Bay State Banner.

(Stage Manager) Gina Bowker is thrilled once again to be working with Bitter Pill. Gina has stage managed in New Hampshire and Maine for most of her life, including at the Players’ Ring, Hatbox Theatre, Hackmatack Playhouse, and the Rochester Opera House. This summer, she will be stage managing ‘The Play that Goes Wrong’ and ‘The Sound of Music’ at the Rochester Opera House. When she isn’t stage managing, Gina is the Program Coordinator at the Black Heritage Trail of NH. She’d like to thank Billy for the opportunity and Adam for his love.

Emily Butler – Vocals, Ukulele
Billy Butler – Vocals, Cello, Bass, Guitar, Accordion, Piano
Tomer Oz – Acoustic Guitar
Mike McKay – Banjo
Dave Hamilton – Drums
Jon McCormack – Electric Guitars
Fury Sheron (guest player) – Mandolin, Sax

Self-described as “rhythm and bluegrass,” Bitter Pill is a tight-knit family, (literally father and daughter) who play a dark and anachronistic twist of folk, blues, jazz, rockabilly, and country. They released their first album, “Prepare Your Throats,” in the fall of 2018. A collection of traditional and original songs from the soundtrack of their staging of William Shakespeare’s violent, bloody, grotesquely ridiculous abomination of a play, “Titus Andronicus.” They released their second album May 2020, “Desperate Times on the New Hampshire State Line,” a whimsical collection of foot stompin’, hand clappin’, spirited cross-genre tunes. Now available for purchase and streaming on all the streamers.
Their third album, “livin aint cheap, dyin aint free” will be released this summer and they will be heading back into the studio to record their new children’s album, “Children of the Grim.” A neo-gothic musical play of original and traditional children’s stories, nursery rhymes, and folk songs that will have its theatrical premiere in May at The Players’ Ring Theatre.

“Smart, dramatic, visual, evocative compositions that cross genres and casts shades of Tom Waits and Shane MacGowan.” NH Magazine

“A perfect storm of fearless bluegrass.” Hippo Press

“Exhilarated. Stimulated.” NHPR

“Intriguing, creative, humorous, raw and not all that wholesome.” Modspoke.com

“This ain’t a slice of the floppy hat, fancy boots, folk boom throwback found at vacant pop-folk festivals ‘round the world. This is the real deal, punch you in the gut and keep you coming back looking for more goods.” Seacoastonline.com

Nominated for 2018 Song of the Year and Best New Act of the Year by the New England Music Awards. Most recently nominated for 2021 Best Live Act and Best in NH.

BOOKING: bitterpilltoswallow@gmail.com